NFC Championship: Packers beat Bears 21-14

January 23, 2011|By Brad Biggs, Tribune reporter

A season in which the Bears benefitted from playing against third-string quarterbacks couldn't be saved by their own No. 3.

But Caleb Hanie's gutsy performance in relief of an injured Jay Cutler and an ineffective Todd Collins was a reason why the Bears were driving with less than a minute to play and a chance to tie the NFC Championship Game Sunday at Soldier Field. It would have been the most improbable of storylines in the 182nd meeting with the Green Bay Packers. Instead, Sam Shields intercepted Hanie at the 12-yard line and the Packers, the NFC's sixth seed, advanced to Super Bowl XLV with a 21-14 victory before 61,171. They will face the at Cowboys Stadium Feb. 6.

"I'm numb," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "Now, we have the opportunity to achieve greatness. This was the path that was chosen for us."

In the 25th anniversary year of the Super Bowl XX Bears, this group didn't have enough offense to pair with a championship-caliber defense. The addition of coordinator Mike Martz remains a good topic for debate, and his insistence on having the 39-year-old Collins ahead of Hanie on the depth chart was a head scratcher. Hanie is far more mobile and Collins was a sitting target behind the offensive line, just like he was at Carolina in Week 5.

On the biggest stage of his career, Cutler was awful. He completed 6 of 14 passes for 80 yards and was intercepted by Shields on an ill-advised shot toward the end zone to Johnny Knox just before halftime. The Bears were in position to cut into a 14-0 deficit. It turns out Cutler injured his left knee on the previous series. He came out for the first possession of the third quarter, a three-and-punt, and left for good.

"I kinda wish we had Jay in there the whole game the way things were going," Packers linebacker Clay Matthews said.

It's unclear exactly when Cutler was injured. It could have come on a Shields' sack. But it's unmistakable the third quarter was 15 wasted minutes. Collins relieved with two three-and-outs and was hopeless in the face of pressure. The Packers ran 15 plays but kept the Bears in the game when Aaron Rodgers made a terrible throw to Brian Urlacher at the Bears' 6-yard line when Green Bay had a chance to nearly put the game away.

Privately, some players grumbled in the locker room afterward. There was the ranking of the quarterbacks on the depth chart -- Hanie didn't replace Collins until 57 seconds remained in the third quarter -- and then Martz's call for an end around to Earl Bennett on third-and-3 at the Packers' 27 with 75 seconds to play was curious. Bennett was stopped for a two-yard loss, leading to the Shields' pick that ended the game.

Before that, Hanie showed the kind of moxie he's displayed in two preseasons. His first drive culminated on Chester Taylor's one-yard touchdown run to bring the Bears within 14-7 with 12:02 remaining. He made a terrible throw to Packers nose tackle B.J. Raji, dropped in zone coverage, that the 337-pounder returned 18 yards for a touchdown. But the resilient Hanie needed only four plays to hit Earl Bennett for a 35-yard touchdown and the Bears were within a score with 4:43 left.

The defense, which righted itself after allowing a one-yard touchdown run by Rodgers and a four-yard touchdown run by James Starks on the Packers' first four possessions, rose up and provided a chance.

"We had that post route called and you know the corner is going to undercut that," Hanie said of the final pick. "Obviously, I don't need to go there with the football."

Had the Bears turned to Hanie at the start of the third quarter, perhaps the rally would have been started earlier.

The biggest problem was the Packers secondary throttled the Bears. Cutler completed one pass to a wide receiver. In the end, wideouts caught five balls and running back Matt Forte, who had 160 total yards, was targeted 15 times. It's tough to win throwing to the back.

The NFC North champions were the healthiest team in the NFL and they made many of their breaks, but they also caught lots of them along the way. Coach Lovie Smith is entering the final year of his contract and labor uncertainty is hanging over 2011. It's difficult to evaluate 2010 and what it means moving forward.

"There's a lot of disappointment," Smith said. "Feel like we made progress with our program this year and eventually we'll put that ring on."